Imprint apparatus and article manufacturing method using same

ABSTRACT

An imprint apparatus includes a deforming unit configured to deform the mold held by the mold holding unit into a convex shape toward the substrate; a driving unit configured to change an attitude of the mold or the substrate during a pressing in which the mold deformed is pressed against the uncured resin to thereby make a position of a contact region at which the mold is brought into contact with the uncured resin movable; a control unit configured to calculate a plane coordinates of a centroid of the contact region based on an image information of the contact region acquired by a measuring unit and to control an operation of the driving unit such that the plane coordinates position of the centroid is directed toward the plane coordinates position of the centroid of a pattern-forming region on the substrate, which has been calculated or has been acquired in advance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus and an articlemanufacturing method using the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

As the demand for microfabrication of semiconductor devices or MEMSincreases, not only a conventional photolithography technology but alsoa microfabrication technology in which an uncured resin on a substrateis molded by a mold to thereby form a resin pattern on the substratehave been receiving attention. This technology is also referred to as an“imprint technology”, by which a fine structure with dimensions of a fewnanometers can be formed on a substrate. One example of imprinttechnologies includes a photo-curing method. An imprint apparatusemploying the photo-curing method first applies an ultraviolet curableresin (imprint material, photocurable resin) to a shot region (imprintregion) on a substrate (wafer). Next, the resin (uncured resin) ismolded by a mold. After the ultraviolet curable resin is irradiated withultraviolet light for curing, the cured resin is released from the mold,whereby a resin pattern is formed on the substrate.

Since the internal atmosphere of the imprinting apparatus employing theaforementioned technology is basically gas (ambient air), air bubblesmay be entrapped in a resin when a mold is pressed against the resin ona substrate. If the resin is cured with air bubbles entrapped therein,there is a high probability that defects will occur in the pattern to beformed. In order to avoid the occurrence of such pattern defects,Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-518207 discloses a method forremoving gas between a mold and a resin in which the mold is temporarilydeflected into a convex shape toward the substrate, a resin on thesubstrate is pressed against the mold in this state, and the mold isgradually restored to a flat surface so as to press the entire patternsurface against the resin. According to the method, gas present betweena mold and a resin may be discharged from the inside to the outside, andthus, air bubbles entrapped in a resin may be reduced.

Here, as with the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.2009-518207, if a mold is pressed against a resin on a substrate as themold is deformed, the contact region between the mold and the resingradually increases as the pressing operation progresses to eventuallyextend to a pattern-forming region (the area of the resin). However, thecentroid of the contact region may be displaced from the center of thepattern-forming region in the course of the pressing operation dependingon the deflection state of the mold or the layout of the pattern formedin the mold. Thus, if the position of the contact region is offset inthe XY plane as described above, a portion at which the distance betweenthe boundary of the contact region and the end of the pattern-formingregion becomes longer as compared with that at another portion mayoccur, resulting in a possible increase in a pressing time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an imprint apparatus that is advantageousfor improvement in throughput.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an imprint apparatusthat molds an uncured resin on a substrate using a mold and cures theresin to thereby form a pattern of the cured resin on the substrate isprovided that includes a mold holding unit configured to hold the mold;a substrate holding unit configured to hold the substrate; a deformingunit configured to deform the mold held by the mold holding unit into aconvex shape toward the substrate; a driving unit configured to changean attitude of the mold or the substrate during a pressing operation inwhich the mold deformed into the convex shape is pressed against theuncured resin to thereby make a position of a contact region at whichthe mold is brought into contact with the uncured resin movable; ameasuring unit configured to acquire an image information indicating astate of a contact region; and a control unit configured to calculate aplane coordinates of a centroid of the contact region based on the imageinformation and to control an operation of the driving unit such thatthe plane coordinates position of the centroid is directed toward theplane coordinates position of the centroid of a pattern-forming regionon the substrate, which has been calculated based on the imageinformation or has been acquired in advance.

According to the present invention, an imprint apparatus that isadvantageous for improvement in throughput may be provided.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an imprintapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating the state of the imprintapparatus according to the first embodiment prior to the centroidadjustment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of operations in amold-pressing step.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating the state of the imprintapparatus according to the first embodiment during the centroidadjustment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating the state of an imprintapparatus according to a second embodiment prior to the centroidadjustment.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating the state of the imprintapparatus according to the second embodiment during the centroidadjustment.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating the state of an imprintapparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating the state of the contactregion at the end of a wafer according to a fourth embodiment.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating the state of an imprintapparatus in a conventional mold-pressing step.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

Firstly, a description will be given of the configuration of an imprintapparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an imprint apparatus ofthe present embodiment. The imprint apparatus of the present embodimentis an apparatus that molds an uncured resin on a wafer (on a substrate),i.e., a substrate to be treated, using a mold to thereby form a resinpattern on the wafer, which is used in the manufacture of devices suchas semiconductor devices and the like as articles. Note that the imprintapparatus of the present embodiment is an apparatus employing aphoto-curing method. In the following drawings, a description will begiven where the Z axis is aligned parallel to the optical axis of anirradiation system that irradiates ultraviolet light onto a resin on awafer, and mutually orthogonal axes X and Y are aligned in directions ina plane perpendicular to the Z axis. Firstly, an imprint apparatus 1includes a light irradiation unit 2, a mold holding mechanism 3, a waferstage 4, an application unit, and a control unit 5.

The light irradiation unit 2 irradiates a mold 6 with ultraviolet light7 during imprint processing. The light irradiation unit 2 is constitutedby a light source (not shown) and an optical element that adjusts theultraviolet light 7 emitted from the light source to light suitable forimprinting. Note that, in the present embodiment, the light irradiationunit 2 is installed for employing a photo-curing method. If athermosetting method is employed, a heat source unit for curing athermosetting resin may be installed instead of the light irradiationunit 2.

The outer peripheral shape of the mold 6 is rectangular and the mold 6includes a pattern section (e.g., the concave and convex pattern of acircuit pattern or the like to be transferred) 6 a which isthree-dimensionally formed on the surface facing a wafer 10. Also, thematerial of the mold 6 is a material such as quartz or the like throughwhich the ultraviolet light 7 can pass. Furthermore, for ease ofdeformation as described below, the mold 6 may be of a shape in which acavity (concave portion) of a circular planer shape having a certaindepth is formed on the surface onto which the ultraviolet light 7 isirradiated.

Firstly, the mold holding mechanism 3 has a mold chuck (mold holdingunit) 11 that holds the mold 6 and a mold drive mechanism 12 that holdsthe mold chuck 11 and moves the mold 6 (the mold chuck 11). The moldchuck 11 may hold the mold 6 by suctioning/attracting the outerperipheral region of the surface of the mold 6 irradiated with theultraviolet light 7 using a vacuum suction force/an electrostatic force.For example, if the mold chuck 11 holds the mold 6 using a vacuumsuction force, the mold chuck 11 is connected to an externally installedvacuum pump (not shown), and attachment/detachment of the mold 6 isswitched by turning the vacuum pump ON/OFF. Also, each of the mold chuck11 and the mold drive mechanism 12 has an aperture region at the centralportion (the inside thereof) such that the ultraviolet light 7 emittedfrom the light irradiation unit 2 is irradiated toward the wafer 10. Alight transmission member (e.g. glass plate) 14 is installed within theaperture region such that a space 13 enclosed by a part of the apertureregion and the mold 6 is sealed, and the pressure in the space 13 isadjusted by a pressure adjusting device (deforming unit) 15 including avacuum pump or the like. The pressure adjusting device 15 sets thepressure in the space 13 higher than the external pressure when the mold6 is pressed against a resin 16 on the wafer 10 so that a patternsection 6 a is deflected into a convex shape toward the wafer 10 and thepattern section 6 a is brought into contact with the resin 16 from thecentral portion of the pattern section 6 a. With this arrangement, gas(air) is prevented from being entrapped between the pattern section 6 aand the resin 16 so that the resin 16 can be filled in the every cornerof the convex and concave portion of the pattern section 6 a. While, inthe present embodiment, the pressure adjusting device 15 serves as adeforming unit configured to deform a mold into a convex shape, thedeforming unit is not limited to the pressure adjusting device 15 butmay be any unit provided that it can deform a mold into a convex shape.Furthermore, the mold holding mechanism 3 has a magnification correctionmechanism (not shown) that corrects the shape of the mold 6 (the patternsection 6 a) by imparting an external force or displacement to the sidesurface of the mold 6. The magnification correction mechanism isinstalled at the mold 6-holding side of the mold chuck 11.

The mold drive mechanism 12 moves the mold 6 in each axis direction soas to selectively press the mold 6 against the resin 16 on the wafer 10or release the mold 6 from the resin 16. The mold drive mechanism 12 isconstituted by a coarse movement stage (coarse movement drive system) 17and a fine movement stage (fine movement drive system) 18. The coarsemovement stage 17 is driven in long distance mainly in the Z-axisdirection. On the other hand, the fine movement stage 18 follows thecoarse movement stage 17 and is finely driven mainly in six-axis (X, Y,Z, ωx, ωy, and ωz) directions. Examples of an actuator employable forthe mold drive mechanism 12 include a linear motor, an air cylinder, andthe like. The pressing operation and the releasing operation performedby the imprint apparatus 1 may be realized by moving the mold 6 in theZ-axis direction, may be realized by moving the wafer stage 4 in theZ-axis direction, or may also be realized by moving both the mold 6 andthe wafer stage 4 relative to each other.

The wafer 10 is, for example, a single crystal silicon substrate or aSOI (Silicon on Insulator) substrate, and an ultraviolet curable resin(hereinafter referred to as “resin”) 16, which is molded by the patternsection 6 a formed in the mold 6, is applied on the treatment surface ofthe wafer 10.

The wafer stage (substrate holding unit) 4 holds the wafer 10 andexecutes position matching between the mold 6 and the resin 16 when themold 6 is pressed against the resin 16 on the wafer 10. The wafer stage4 has a wafer chuck 19 that holds the wafer 10 by a suction force and astage drive mechanism 20 that holds the wafer chuck 19 by a mechanicalunit and is movable in each axis direction. The stage drive mechanism 20is also constituted by a coarse movement stage (coarse movement drivesystem) 21 and a fine movement stage (fine movement drive system) 22. Inthis case, the coarse movement stage 21 is driven in long distancemainly in the XY plane. On the other hand, the fine movement stage 22follows the coarse movement stage 21 and is finely driven mainly insix-axis (X, Y, Z, ωx, ωy, and ωz) directions. Examples of an actuatoremployable for the stage drive mechanism 20 include a linear motor, aplanar motor, and the like.

The application unit (not shown) is installed near the mold holdingmechanism 3 and applies the resin (uncured resin) 16 to the wafer 10.Here, the resin 16 is a photocurable resin (imprint material) having theproperty of being cured by receiving irradiation of the ultravioletlight 7, and is appropriately selected depending on various conditionssuch as the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices or the like.The amount of the resin 16 to be ejected from the ejection nozzle of theapplication unit is also appropriately determined by a desired thicknessof the resin 16 to be formed on the wafer 10, the density of the patternto be formed, or the like. Let it be assumed that the “pattern-formingregion (shot)” used in the following description has substantially thesame area as that of the application region to which the resin 16 isapplied for convenience.

The control unit 5 may control the operation, adjustment, and the likeof the components of the imprint apparatus 1. The control unit 5 isconstituted by a computer or the like and is connected to the componentsof the imprint apparatus 1 through a line so as to execute control ofthe components by a program or the like. The control unit 5 of thepresent embodiment controls at least the operation of the driving unitsuch as the mold holding unit 3 or the like and the pressure adjustingdevice 15. Note that the control unit 5 may be integrated with the restof the imprint apparatus 1 (provided in a shared housing) or may beprovided separately from the rest of the imprint apparatus 1 (providedin a separate housing).

Also, the imprint apparatus 1 includes a measuring device (measuringunit) 23 that grasps the state of the contact region when the mold 6(the pattern section 6 a) is brought into contact with the resin 16 onthe wafer 10. The measuring device 23 is installed above the moldholding mechanism 3, that is, upstream of the direction in which theultraviolet light 7 is irradiated. The measuring device 23 is an imagingdevice such as a CCD camera or the like that acquires the contact regionas image information in this case. Furthermore, the imprint apparatus 1may also include an alignment measurement system, a mold conveyancemechanism that conveys the mold 6 from the exterior of the apparatus tothe mold holding mechanism 3, a substrate conveyance mechanism thatconveys the wafer 10 from the exterior of the apparatus to the waferstage 4, and the like, all of which are not shown.

Next, a description will be given of imprint processing performed by theimprint apparatus 1. Firstly, the control unit 5 places and attaches thewafer 10 to the wafer chuck 19 of the wafer stage 4 using the substrateconveyance mechanism, and then moves the wafer stage 4 to theapplication position of the application unit. Next, as an applicationstep, the application unit applies the resin 16 to a pattern-formingregion which is a predetermined area to be processed of the wafer 10.Next, the control unit 5 moves the wafer stage 4 such that thepattern-forming region on the wafer 10 is placed in a position directlybelow the pattern section 6 a formed in the mold 6. Next, the controlunit 5 drives the mold drive mechanism 12 so as to press the mold 6against the resin 16 on the wafer 10 (mold-pressing step). By pressingthe mold 6 against the resin 16, the resin 16 is filled in the convexand concave portion of the pattern section 6 a. Under this condition, asa curing step, the control unit 5 causes the light irradiation device 2to emit the ultraviolet light 7 from the top surface of the mold 6, andcures the resin 16 by the ultraviolet light 7 that has been transmittedthrough the mold 6. Then, after the resin 16 is cured, the control unit5 drives the mold drive mechanism 12 again to thereby release the mold 6from the resin 16 (mold-releasing step). By the aforementioned steps, athree dimensionally shaped pattern (layer) of the resin 16 following theconvex and concave portion of the pattern section 6 a is formed on thesurface of the pattern-forming region on the wafer 10. Such a sequenceof imprint operations is conducted two or more times while changing thepattern-forming region by driving the wafer stage 4 to thereby be ableto form a plurality of patterns of the resin 16 on one wafer 10.

In particular, in the mold-pressing step and the mold-releasing step,the control unit 5 deforms (deflects) the mold 6 into a convex shapetoward the wafer 10 by the pressure adjusting device 15 as describedabove. Here, for comparison, a description will be given of a pressingoperation performed by a conventional imprint apparatus. FIGS. 9A and 9Bare schematic diagrams illustrating the state of the conventionalimprint apparatus during pressing operation. FIG. 9A is a diagramillustrating the state of a mold 102 (a pattern section 103) beingpressed against a resin layer 101, which is a pattern-forming regionformed on the wafer 100, during the pressing operation. In general, ifthe mold 6 is pressed against the resin layer 101 on the wafer 100 asthe mold 6 is deformed, the contact region between the pattern section103 and the resin layer 101 gradually increases as the pressingoperation progresses to eventually extend to the area of the applicationregion to which the resin layer 101 is applied. However, in theconventional imprint apparatus, the centroid of the contact region maybe displaced from the center of the resin layer 101 in the course of thepressing operation depending on the deflection state of the mold 102 orthe layout of the pattern formed in the mold 102. FIG. 9B is a plan viewillustrating the state of the contact region in such a case. Forexample, if the position of a contact region 104 is offset in the XYplane, that is, if the centroid 105 of the contact region 104 isdisplaced from the center 106 of the resin layer 101, the distancebetween the boundary 107 of the contact region 104 and the end 101 a ofthe resin layer 101 may vary from place to place. Thus, a portion atwhich the distance between the boundary 107 of the contact region 104and the end of the resin layer 101 becomes longer as compared with thatat another portion may occur, resulting in a possible increase in apressing time. Accordingly, the imprint apparatus 1 of the presentembodiment adjusts the position of the centroid of the contact region asappropriate during the pressing operation such that the position of thecontact region is not offset in the XY plane.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams illustrating the state of thecontact region prior to the centroid adjustment in the mold-pressingstep. In particular, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view illustrating thestate of the imprint apparatus 1 corresponding to that shown in FIG. 1,where the mold 6 is in a deformed state, and FIG. 2B is a plan viewillustrating the state of a contact region 24 between the patternsection 6 a and the resin (resin layer) 16 at this time. Also, FIG. 3 isa flowchart illustrating the sequence of operations performed by theimprint apparatus 1 in the mold-pressing step. Firstly, in themold-pressing step, the control unit 5 acquires image information aboutthe contact region 24 using a measuring device 23 while the patternsection 6 a is being pressed against the resin 16 (step S100). Next, thecontrol unit 5 calculates the position (plane coordinates) of a centroid25 of the contact region 24 based on the acquired image information(step S101). The position of the centroid 25 can be calculated byreplacing the acquired area of the contact region 24 with, for example,a polygon, a circle, an ellipse, or the like as appropriate.Furthermore, concurrently with the calculation of the centroid 25, thecontrol unit 5 calculates the area of the application region of theresin 16 applied on the wafer 10, that is, the position (planecoordinates) of a centroid 26 of the pattern-forming region based on theacquired image information. Note that the centroid 26 may also becalculated in advance prior to the pressing operation. Here, if theentire pattern-forming region is present on the wafer 10 as in thepresent embodiment, the centroid 26 becomes the center of the area ofthe application region to which the resin 16 is applied. Next, thecontrol unit 5 compares the position of the calculated centroid 25 withthat of the calculated centroid 26 (step S102). Next, the control unit 5drives the fine movement stage 18 of the mold drive mechanism 12 suchthat the position of the centroid 25 is always directed toward (matchedto) the position of the centroid 26 during the pressing operation (stepS103). At this time, the control unit 5 changes the angles ωx and ωyaround the XY axis of the mold holding surface in the fine movementstage 18 while moving the coarse movement stage 17 of the mold drivemechanism 12 upward in the Z-axis direction. Subsequently, the controlunit 5 repeats the sequence of operations at a certain frequency (NO instep S104). If the control unit 5 determines that the pressing operationhas been completed (YES in step S104), the sequence of operations isended (step S104).

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating the state of thecontact region during the centroid adjustment in a mold-pressing step.In particular, FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view illustrating the stateof the imprint apparatus 1 corresponding to that shown in FIG. 2A, wherethe fine movement stage 18 is in a drive state, and FIG. 4B is a planview illustrating the state of the contact region 24 between the patternsection 6 a and the resin (resin layer) 16 at this time. For example, asshown in FIG. 4A, the control unit 5 changes the angle ωy around the Yaxis of the mold holding surface with respect to the fine movement stage18 to thereby change the attitude of the mold 6 (the pattern section 6a) held by the fine movement stage 18 via the mold chuck 11. Here, theamount of change in each of the angles ωx and ωy is adjusted based onthe offset amount between the centroid 25 and the centroid 26 in the XYplane. The control unit 5 adjusts the angles based on the calculatedoffset amount, and thus, the position of the centroid 25 is moved asshown in FIG. 4B so as to be matched with the position of the centroid26. Also, the control unit 5 sets the calculation timing of the centroid25 in advance such that the accuracy in controlling the position of thecentroid 26 is ensured and the amount of change in the angle of the moldholding surface of the fine movement stage 18 is prevented from beingexcessively large. For example, if a pattern-forming region has the sizeof 20 mm×30 mm, a distance between adjacent droplets of the resin 16applied to the wafer 10 is 150 μm, and a time required for pressing is0.5 sec, it is preferable that the control unit 5 executes thecalculation of the centroid 25 at intervals of 0.5 msec. The controlunit 5 calculates the centroid 25 at such timing and feedback-controlsthe amount of change in the angle of the mold holding surface of thefine movement stage 18 so as to maintain the accuracy in controlling theposition of the centroid 25.

As described above, the fine movement stage 18 is driven such that theposition of the centroid 25 is always directed toward the position ofthe centroid 26 during the pressing operation, and thus, the contactregion 24 may be prevented from being offset in the XY plane. Therefore,the contact region 24 is uniformly expanded from the centroid 26, andthus, an increase in a pressing time is suppressed, resulting in animprovement in entire throughput of the imprint apparatus 1. Also, sincethe mold 6 is uniformly deflected from the centroid 26 in amold-pressing step, the occurrence of a local distortion of the mold 6in the XY axis direction is suppressed, resulting in an improvement inoverlay accuracy.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an imprintapparatus that is advantageous for improvement in throughput may beprovided.

Although, in the present embodiment, the fine movement stage 18 on themold 6 side is employed as a driving unit that drives the position ofthe centroid 25 of the contact region 24 so as to be directed toward theposition of the centroid 26 of the application region to which the resin16 is applied, the fine movement stage 22 on the wafer 10 side may alsobe employed. In this case, the coarse movement stage 21 and the finemovement stage 22 of the stage drive mechanism 20 operate in accordancewith the coarse movement stage 17 and the fine movement stage 18 of themold drive mechanism 12, respectively, in the aforementioneddescription.

Second Embodiment

Next, a description will be given of an imprint apparatus according to asecond embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5A and 5B areschematic diagrams illustrating the state of an imprint apparatus 30according to the present embodiment prior to the centroid adjustment ina mold-pressing step. In particular, FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional viewillustrating the configuration of the imprint apparatus 30. In FIG. 5A,the same elements as those in the imprint apparatus 1 of the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same referencenumerals, and explanation thereof will be omitted. A feature of theimprint apparatus 30 lies in the fact that a mold chuck 32 having aplurality of suction grooves 31 provided on the suction surface thereofis employed as a driving unit that drives the position of the centroid25 of the contact region 24 so as to be directed toward the position ofthe centroid 26 of the application region to which the resin 16 isapplied. In this case, a mold drive mechanism 33 of the presentembodiment, which corresponds to the mold drive mechanism 12 of thefirst embodiment, may be a unitary drive mechanism that is movable atleast in the Z-axis direction instead of one having two drive systemswhich are a coarse movement stage and a fine movement stage. Likewise, astage drive mechanism 34 of the present embodiment, which corresponds tothe stage drive mechanism 20 of the first embodiment, may also be aunitary drive mechanism that is movable at least in the XY axisdirection instead of one having two drive systems which are a coarsemovement stage and a fine movement stage.

FIG. 5B is a plan view illustrating the configuration of a mold chuck 32as seen from the mold 6 side and the suction state of the mold chuck 32in this case. By way of example, the mold chuck 32 has three suctiongrooves 31 arranged in parallel from the inside toward the outside oneach of four regions (a first region 35 a to a fourth region 35 d) of asuction surface 35 in the XY plane. These suction grooves 31 include afirst suction groove 31 a, a second suction groove 31 b, and a thirdsuction groove 31 c, which are arranged at the first region 35 a in theX axis direction, and a fourth suction groove 31 d, a fifth suctiongroove 31 e, and a sixth suction groove 31 f, which are arranged at thesecond region 35 b opposite to the first region 35 a. Furthermore, thesuction grooves 31 include a seventh suction groove 31 g, an eighthsuction groove 31 h, and a ninth suction groove 31 i, which are arrangedat the third region 35 c in the Y axis direction, and a tenth suctiongroove 31 j, an eleventh suction groove 31 k, and a twelfth suctiongroove 31 l, which are arranged at the fourth region 35 d opposite tothe third region 35 c. Each of these suction grooves 31 is connected toa vacuum pump 36 via a switching mechanism. When the mold 6 is held bysuction, the control unit 5 controls the switching ON/OFF of the suctionof each of these suction grooves 31 independently of one another. Here,in the example shown in FIG. 5B, the control unit 5 sets the suction oftwo suction grooves 31, which are the first suction groove 31 a in the Xaxis direction and the fourth suction groove 31 d opposite to the firstsuction groove 31 a, to “ON”. In FIG. 5B, the suction grooves 31 inwhich the suction is switched “ON” are denoted in black for ease ofexplanation.

In contrast, FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams illustrating thestate of the imprint apparatus 30 according to the present embodimentduring the centroid adjustment in a mold-pressing step. In particular,FIG. 6A corresponds to FIG. 5A and FIG. 6B corresponds to FIG. 5B. Inthe first embodiment, the control unit 5 controls the position of thecentroid 25 so as to be always directed toward the position of thecentroid 26 by driving the fine movement stage 18 of the mold drivemechanism 12 in step S103 in the sequence of operations shown in FIG. 3.In contrast, in the present embodiment, the control unit 5 controls theposition of the centroid 25 so as to be always directed toward theposition of the centroid 26 by switching a portion in which the suctionis switched “ON” from among the plurality of suction grooves 31 providedin the mold chuck 32. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 6B, thecontrol unit 5 changes the suction state shown in FIG. 5B to the suctionstate in which the suction of the first suction groove 31 a remains “ON”but the suction of the fourth suction groove 31 d is switched “OFF” andthe suction of the fifth suction groove 31 e positioned outwardlyadjacent to the fourth suction groove 31 d is switched “ON”. At thistime, selection of the suction grooves 31 is adjusted based on theoffset amount between the centroid 25 of the contact region 24 and thecentroid 26 in the XY plane. As described above, the suction operationof a plurality of suction grooves 31 is switched independently of oneanother. Consequently, the attitude of the pattern section 6 a ischanged with change in the deflected shape of the mold 6 so that theposition of the centroid 25 of the contact region 24 can be moved duringthe pressing operation. With this arrangement, according to the presentembodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can beobtained.

Third Embodiment

Next, a description will be given of an imprint apparatus according to athird embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematicdiagrams illustrating the state of an imprint apparatus 40 according tothe present embodiment prior to the centroid adjustment and during thecentroid adjustment in a mold-pressing step. In particular, FIG. 7A is across-sectional view illustrating the state of the imprint apparatus 40prior to the centroid adjustment. In FIG. 7A, the same elements as thosein the imprint apparatus 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 aredesignated by the same reference numerals, and explanation thereof willbe omitted. A feature of the imprint apparatus 40 lies in the fact thata moving mechanism 43 that moves a mold 41 in the XY axis directionwhile holding the mold 41 by suction using a mold chuck 42 is employedas a driving unit that drives the position of the centroid 25 of thecontact region 24 so as to be directed toward the position of thecentroid 26 of the application region to which the resin 16 is applied.Also in this case, a mold drive mechanism 44 of the present embodiment,which corresponds to the mold drive mechanism 12 of the firstembodiment, may be a unitary drive mechanism that is movable at least inthe Z-axis direction instead of one having two drive systems which are acoarse movement stage and a fine movement stage. Likewise, a stage drivemechanism 45 of the present embodiment, which corresponds to the stagedrive mechanism 20 of the first embodiment, may also be a unitary drivemechanism that is movable at least in the XY axis direction instead ofone having two drive systems which are a coarse movement stage and afine movement stage.

Firstly, the outer shape of the mold 41 of the present embodiment andthe shape of a pattern section 41 a thereof are the same as comparedwith those of the mold 6 of the aforementioned embodiment, but the outerperiphery of the mold 41 of the present embodiment, which includes asuction surface with respect to the mold chuck 42, has a differentshape. In other words, the central portion of the mold 41 is thin so asto be readily deformed into a convex shape toward the wafer 10, and theouter periphery is formed by a thick wall portion 41 b. Consequently,the mold 41 may be of a shape in which a cavity (concave portion) of acircular planer shape having a certain depth is formed on the centralportion of the surface onto which the ultraviolet light 7 is irradiated.In contrast, the moving mechanism 43 is installed in, for example, themold drive mechanism 44 and moves the mold 41 to the XY axis directionby imparting an external pressure independently to four wall surfaces ofthe wall portion 41 b. As shown in FIG. 7A, the moving mechanism 43 mayinclude a pair of abutting rods 46 (46 a and 46 b) that are in contactwith the inside and outside of the wall portion 41 b such that theabutting rods 46 are driven by an actuator installed within the movingmechanism 43 in the XY axis direction.

On the other hand, FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating thestate of the imprint apparatus 40 during the centroid adjustment. In thepresent embodiment, the control unit 5 controls the position of thecentroid 25 so as to be always directed toward the position of thecentroid 26 by appropriately adjusting the amount of the four abuttingrods 46 to be pushed out by the moving mechanism 43. For example, in theexample shown in FIG. 7B, the control unit 5 changes the state of theabutting rods 46 shown in FIG. 7A to the state in which one of theabutting rods 46 remains unchanged in the same state but the other ofthe abutting rods 46 is pushed out so as to make the wall portion 41 bface inward. At this time, the amount that the abutting rod 46 is pushedout is adjusted based on the offset amount between the centroid 25 ofthe contact region 24 and the centroid 26 in the XY plane. As describedabove, the deflected shape of the mold 41 is changed by applying anexternal pressure to the mold 41 using the moving mechanism 43.Consequently, the attitude of the pattern section 41 a is changed sothat the position of the centroid 25 of the contact region 24 can bemoved during the pressing operation. With this arrangement, according tothe present embodiment, the same effects as those of the firstembodiment can be obtained.

If the mold 41 remains displaced from the mold chuck 42 in the XY axisdirection after completion of the pressing operation, the control unit 5restores the state of the mold 41 back to its original state by movingthe mold 41 again using the moving mechanism 43. Then, if the relativeposition between the mold 41 and the wafer 10 in the XY axis directionhas been measured prior to the pressing operation, the control unit 5moves the mold 41 (executes position matching) using the movingmechanism 43 based on the measurement result. On the other hand, if therelative position between the mold 41 and the wafer 10 in the XY axisdirection is measured after completion of the pressing operation, thecontrol unit 5 moves the mold 41 using the moving mechanism 43 based onthe measurement result at this point. As described above, thedisplacement of the mold 41 in the XY axis direction is corrected inadvance prior to a curing step, and thus, the displacement of thepattern-forming position from a desired position with respect to thewafer 10 can be suppressed.

Fourth Embodiment

Next, a description will be given of an imprint apparatus according to afourth embodiment of the present invention. While the embodiment hasbeen described with reference to a case in which the pattern-formingregion, which is an area to be processed, is present on the entire wafer10, the present embodiment will be described with reference to a casewhere the pattern-forming region is present at the end of the wafer 10.Here, the expression “a case where the pattern-forming region is presentat the end of the wafer 10” as used herein refers to a case where thepressing position in this case occupies a part of the end of the wafer10. FIGS. 8A and 8B are plan views illustrating the state of a contactregion 51 when the pressing operation is performed on a pattern-formingregion 50 which is present at the end of the wafer 10. In particular,FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating the state of the contact region 51prior to the centroid adjustment and FIG. 8B is a diagram illustratingthe state of the contact region 51 prior to the centroid adjustment.Firstly, when the pressing operation is started at the end of the wafer10, the contact region 51 is present near the center of the patternsection 6 a on the initial stage but gradually moves and increasesaccording to the shape of a pattern-forming region (resin applicationregion) 50 as the pressing operation proceeds. On the final stage, thecontact region 51 extends across the whole area of the pattern-formingregion 50. The shape of the pattern-forming region 50 is not limited tothe example shown in FIG. 8A but differs depending on the location ofthe end of the wafer 10. Thus, as in step S101 shown in FIG. 3 of thefirst embodiment, the control unit 5 firstly calculates the position ofa centroid 52 of the contact region 51 based on the image informationacquired by the measuring device 23 during the pressing operation.Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the control unit 5 alsocalculates the position of a centroid 53 of the pattern-forming region50, which is present at the end of the wafer 10, based on the imageinformation acquired by the measuring device 23. Then, as in step S102and the subsequent steps shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 5 comparesthe calculated position of the centroid 52 with that of the centroid 53and executes the centroid adjustment such that the position of thecentroid 52 is always directed toward the position of the centroid 53 asshown in FIG. 8B. According to the present embodiment, even if thepattern-forming region is present at the end of the wafer 10, thecontact region 51 is uniformly expanded from the centroid 53 of thepattern-forming region 50, and thus, an increase in a pressing time issuppressed, resulting in an improvement in throughput of the entireimprint apparatus 1.

(Article Manufacturing Method)

A method for manufacturing a device (semiconductor integrated circuitelement, liquid display element, or the like) as an article may includea step of forming a pattern on a substrate (wafer, glass plate,film-like substrate, or the like) using the imprint apparatus describedabove. Furthermore, the manufacturing method may include a step ofetching the substrate on which a pattern has been formed. When otherarticles such as a patterned medium (storage medium), an opticalelement, or the like is manufactured, the manufacturing method mayinclude another step, such as processing the substrate on which apattern has been formed instead of the etching step. The articlemanufacturing method of the present embodiment has an advantage, ascompared with a conventional article manufacturing method, in at leastone of performance, quality, productivity and production cost of anarticle.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described withreference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. Thescope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalentstructures and functions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2011-194584 filed Sep. 7, 2011 which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

1. An imprint apparatus that molds an uncured resin on a substrate usinga mold and cures the resin to thereby form a pattern of the cured resinon the substrate, the imprint apparatus comprising: a mold holding unitconfigured to hold the mold; a substrate holding unit configured to holdthe substrate; a deforming unit configured to deform the mold held bythe mold holding unit into a convex shape toward the substrate; adriving unit configured to change an attitude of the mold or thesubstrate during a pressing operation in which the mold deformed intothe convex shape is pressed against the uncured resin to thereby make aposition of a contact region at which the mold is brought into contactwith the uncured resin movable; a measuring unit configured to acquirean image information indicating a state of the contact region; and acontrol unit configured to calculate a plane coordinates of a centroidof the contact region based on the image information and to control anoperation of the driving unit such that the plane coordinates positionof the centroid is directed toward the plane coordinates position of thecentroid of a pattern-forming region on the substrate, which has beencalculated based on the image information or has been acquired inadvance.
 2. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedeforming unit deforms the mold into the convex shape toward thesubstrate by adjusting pressure in a space in contact with the mold. 3.The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when a pressingposition in which the mold is pressed against the uncured resin iscaught at an end of the substrate, the control unit executes calculationof the plane coordinates of the centroid of the pattern-forming regionin parallel with calculation of the plane coordinates of the centroid ofthe contact region.
 4. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the driving unit is a drive system that is installed in the moldholding unit and changes an angle of a holding surface of the mold inthe mold holding unit with respect to a plane of the substrate.
 5. Theimprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit is adrive system that is installed in the substrate holding unit and changesan angle of a holding surface of the substrate in the substrate holdingunit with respect to a surface of the mold.
 6. The imprint apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the driving unit is the mold holding unitthat comprises a plurality of suction grooves that holds the mold bysuction and a switching mechanism that is capable of switching thesuction of each of the plurality of suction grooves independently of oneanother.
 7. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedriving unit is a moving mechanism that moves the mold deformed into theconvex shape toward the substrate while being held by the mold holdingunit parallel to a plane of the substrate.
 8. The imprint apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the driving unit is a drive system that isinstalled in the mold holding unit and changes an angle of a holdingsurface of the mold in the mold holding unit with respect to a plane ofthe substrate.
 9. The imprint apparatus according to claim 3, whereinthe driving unit is a drive system that is installed in the substrateholding unit and changes an angle of a holding surface of a substrate inthe substrate holding unit with respect to the surface of the mold. 10.The imprint apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the driving unit isthe mold holding unit that comprises a plurality of suction grooves thatholds the mold by suction and a switching mechanism that is capable ofswitching the suction of each of the plurality of suction groovesindependently of one another.
 11. The imprint apparatus according toclaim 3, wherein the driving unit is a moving mechanism that moves themold deformed into the convex shape toward the substrate while beingheld by the mold holding unit parallel to a plane of the substrate. 12.The imprint apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the control unitrestores a state of the mold and the substrate moved in parallel back toits original state by the moving mechanism after completion of thepressing operation.
 13. The imprint apparatus according to claim 12,wherein the control unit executes position matching based on ameasurement result of a relative position between the mold and thesubstrate prior to the pressing operation.
 14. The imprint apparatusaccording to claim 12, wherein the control unit executes positionmatching based on a measurement result of a relative position betweenthe mold and the substrate after completion of the pressing operation.15. An article manufacturing method comprising: forming, in apattern-forming step, a resin pattern on a substrate using the imprintapparatus according to claim 1; and processing the substrate on whichthe pattern has been formed in the pattern-forming step.
 16. An imprintapparatus that molds an uncured resin on a substrate using a mold andcures the resin to thereby form a pattern of the cured resin on thesubstrate, the imprint apparatus comprising: a mold holding unitconfigured to hold the mold; a substrate holding unit configured to holdthe substrate; a deforming unit configured to deform the mold held bythe mold holding unit into a convex shape toward the substrate; adriving unit configured to change an attitude of the mold or thesubstrate to thereby move a position of a contact region at which themold is brought into contact with the uncured resin; a measuring unitconfigured to acquire an image information indicating a state of thecontact region; and a control unit configured to cause the measuringunit to acquire the image information with the mold deformed into theconvex shape in contact with the uncured resin and control the drivingunit based on an acquired result such that a position of a centroid ofthe contact region is directed toward a position of a centroid of apattern surface.